Fred Wright takes white jersey at Vuelta a España but wanted more

Already impressive at the Tour de France with his second place on stage 13 plus aggressive racing throughout, Fred Wright was on the attack again on Wednesday’s fifth stage of the Vuelta a España.

The 23-year-old scooped the white jersey for the best young rider as a result. However, the Bahrain Victorious rider had another target in mind and was somewhat deflated by his eventual third place in Bilbao.

“In my mind, it was the stage win. I really wanted that stage win,” he said after finishing second in an 11-rider sprint four seconds behind the day’s winner Marc Soler. “That’s why I was staying in the front the whole day. I’m a bit disappointed, but at least I get to wear a nice jersey. A leader’s jersey in a Grand Tour is pretty special, so I’m happy I got that white jersey.”

He is now second overall, just two seconds behind the new race leader Rudy Molard of Groupama-FDJ.

Also read:

• Vuelta a España stage 5: Marc Soler holds off chasers to win in Bilbao
• The current overall standings of the Vuelta a España after stage 5
• Fred Wright aiming for the sky at Vuelta a España: ‘A big win is just around the corner’

Wright was one of 17 riders who got clear of the bunch inside the first half of the stage. They were then joined by Soler, who bridged across and then made his winning move on the final climb.

Wright went across the top of that climb in a chase group of four riders. It looked for quite a while that Soler would be caught but when that chase group swelled from behind, the coordination went out of the pursuit and Soler was able to hang on.

“I thought we could bring [Soler] back, to be honest,” he said. “Fair play to him, he was super strong. I was feeling good on the climb but not good enough to follow him. I thought maybe we could catch him on the descent. Unfortunately not.

“I know I’ve got a good sprint, and I led the sprint out for a long way. Third and the white jersey is not what I wanted, but I can be happy with it.”